As If You Have A Choice
by fadagaski
Summary: Arthur's lost in the forest when a familiar white-blue ball of light appears to guide him home. But what should he do when confronted with another, both desperate to lead him two different ways?


Title: As If You Have a Choice

Fandom: Merlin

Characters: Arthur, balls of light, Merlin

Rating: G

Spoilers: 1x04

Summary: Arthur's lost in the forest when a familiar white-blue ball of light appears to guide him home. But what should he do when confronted with another, both desperate to lead him two different ways?

Wordcount: 1395

A/N: In which not a lot happens, plotwise or otherwise. (Very late) Christmas present for belenustenebrae. Happy holidays! Title from Keane, because pretentiously emo songs are for the win.

*

It was past midnight in the royal forest to the west of Camelot, and Arthur was unaccountably lost. He'd hunted these woods since he was old enough to wield a bow and arrow, knew them as well as the castle and its hidden passages, but since sunset he'd been blundering through the underbush completely unable to orient himself. With no stars in the sky to guide him, and not a sign of the knights with whom he came hunting, Arthur was beginning to suspect foul play, but there wasn't even a visible enemy into whom he could thrust his sword.

Resigned and maybe a little forlorn – they'd be tucking into the venison _he_ had killed at the castle tonight – Arthur made camp under a fat oak tree, grateful for the first time that day that Merlin had been too sick to come, forcing Arthur to carry his own pack. A little fire ruined his night vision, but it was worth it for the brace of rabbits he skinned and fried, licking the grease from his fingers when his belly was full. Then, curled up in his blanket, Arthur forced all thoughts of his beautiful bed from his mind, determined to get some sleep before something worse happened.

Something worse _did_ happen. It started to rain, a fierce downpour that absolutely shredded the brittle oak leaves overhead. Arthur hurried to stuff his blanket away, muttering under his breath and eyes stinging with fire smoke and too little sleep. Then, whilst he huddled for shelter under a broad branch, he saw something glittering between the trees. At first he thought it might be a search party, and he was formulating several strong rebukes to certain knights who carelessly misplaced their crown prince, but as it drifted closer he began to suspect something entirely different.

"Hello there!" Arthur called, cautious but hopeful, because he knew that particular shade of glowing blue-white, had followed it in the dark before. It bobbed towards him, seemingly unaffected by the rain, until it hovered just a few feet away. Arthur smiled to himself. It didn't matter right now that this was magic being cast in his presence, nor that the caster could well be watching Arthur right that second. He was cold, he was wet, and he was tired, and if following this odd little globe got Arthur home to Camelot then that was exactly what he was going to do.

It wasn't easy, slipping in wet leaves and mud, tripping over roots he couldn't see because the light shined with blinding intensity in the gloom under the trees. However, it led him faithfully and without incident for long enough that Arthur's breath began to run short, and he wondered whether the little magic ball was lost now too – surely he should be out of the woods by now?

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Arthur asked it, though he didn't expect a reply on account of it being a _floating ball of light_. Sometimes he could hardly believe the twists of his own life. Yawning, Arthur wiped rainwater from his eyes and squinted at the looming tree silhouettes to see if he could recognise a familiar feature. What he saw instead surprised him a great deal. "You brought a friend?" Arthur asked, because there it was: a second ball of light, the exact same colour as the first, zipping between the trees like it was in a rush to reach them. It hovered two feet from Arthur's shoulder, and he got the distinct impression it was watching them.

"Hello?" he greeted it. The new glowing ball bobbed towards Arthur and away, almost like a beckoning, but the first charged in a manner reminiscent of bucks fighting in the spring. The second ball dodged backwards, circling Arthur in a blur of colour to attack the first ball from behind. The first ducked and darted behind Arthur, who found himself in the odd position of facing his own distorted reflection in a magical ethereal globe. He frowned at it.

"When you're both quite finished at playing this childish game, perhaps one of you would be decent enough to show me the way home?" he said in the most authorative tone he could muster when water kept dribbling into his eyes. The ball in front of him actually changed hue, from subtle blue to a bashful pink. Arthur hadn't realised it could change colour, though why it should surprise him that a magical ball of light would do so he didn't know.

After a brief standoff, a consensus seemed to be reached by the two opposing lights, and they set off in a row: first the blue, then Arthur, with the pink bringing up the rear. It hovered near to Arthur's shoulder and pulsed in warning whenever the front light drifted closer. For his part, Arthur ignored them both in favour of concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other without losing his balance in the treacherous mud.

That lasted until they came to quite an obvious fork in the road. The blue ball floated over the left path, the pink over the right, and Arthur looked expectantly between them. They did not react. Arthur sighed, wiping his wet hair back off his forehead, and glared at them. "If you're not going to be any help then you can both just clear off," he told them. If he squinted, the pink one seemed to bob slightly more anxiously in place, but Arthur was beyond caring. After readjusting his pack, he tossed his head at both lights and resolutely picked a direction – left.

Of course the pink light decided it would be absolutely hilarious to dart right in front of Arthur's face and hover there, close enough to sear his eyes. Arthur tried to duck under it, dodge around it, even bat it away with an ineffectual hand, but the ball persisted in remaining three inches from his nose, slowly turning to a deep bottle green that looked about as frustrated as Arthur felt.

"Alright!" he barked when it once again swam in front of his face, thwarting his attempt to slip past. "Alright, I get it. We'll go the other way." The light flared a bright happy yellow and immediately zipped past him. Sighing, Arthur turned and trudged back to the fork, taking the path illuminated by the yellow ball. He'd almost forgotten the first ball that had come to him until there was a curious buzzing noise behind him. Arthur looked over his shoulder and had just enough time to flinch before the light hurtled at him and exploded against a sudden and mysterious invisible barrier, vanishing in a flash.

Arthur spent several long moments blinking the forest back into view, pressing the heel of his hand into his eyeballs and trying to keep the second ball of light in his field of vision in case it, too, tried to attack. Standing, Arthur drew his sword and pointed it at his floating companion. It glowed at him, all orange and warm, and reminded Arthur of nothing so much as Merlin when he was at his most clingy.

"I'm going home now, so don't try anything," Arthur informed it. He sheathed his sword and strode off with great determination. The little orange ball darted ahead. As it made no attempt to dive at him as the other had, Arthur decided to follow it until he found a better plan.

He found the edge of the forest first, and what he thought was yet another glowing ball of light dancing along the treeline. However, when Arthur dashed towards open grassland and freedom, all he found instead was Merlin, who had thoughtfully considered to bring two horses with him, and torches to light the way, though what use they would be in the pouring rain Arthur didn't know.

"I thought you were too ill to come hunting?" Arthur asked, tossing Merlin his pack which was promptly dropped. Typical.

"I dor you migh wan some compny," came the reply, which required more effort to translate than Arthur was willing to commit and so he decided ignorance was, in this case, the better part of valour.

"Come on. Let's try to get home before dawn, at least." Mounting up, Arthur took the lead and didn't once look back at the bleak little forest.

*


End file.
